“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt;”Jude 20-22In his short letter, Jude packs a lot of powerful ideas. One of the most powerful, is the idea of praying in the Holy Spirit. Now for someone who ...  Read More

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”2nd Timothy 1:6-7Whenever Christmas approaches, my kids get really excited. The mailers come in and the kids immediately grab them and start making their “wish lists.” They spend hours staring at the differe...  Read More

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”Ephesians 4:1-3In these last days, I believe there is a call from the Spirit of God to his church to find unity. Paul’s plea to the ...  Read More

My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.Proverbs 4:20–23Can words heal people? You bet they can. When speaking of healing and our desire to become healthy and whole...  Read More

“Oh that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.”Malachi 1:10Recently I heard someone describe sacrifices as “the way we draw near to God.” In the Old Testament, they would sacrifice an animal on the altar in order to draw close to God. In the N...  Read More

"Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts."Zechariah 1:3Everything God does is based in relationship. He desires relationship with you. He seeks it out. When you look at the theme for the Bible, it's a book built upon relationship - God's relationship with man.In the Old Testament, Israel constant...  Read More

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”John 7:38When Jesus met with the Samaritan woman at the well, one of the promises he made to her is that he could give her living water and that should would never thirst again. He made this promise at a well, where she would daily have to draw water from in order to survive in this hot climate...  Read More

"I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back an...  Read More

"Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?"Psalm 6:4-5Often we find ourselves in the same place as David, we are surrounded by our troubles. What are the things that are troubling you today? Where have you found anxiety in your heart?David spent years in hiding, fearing for his life. H...  Read More

"O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?"Psalm 6:1-3For some people, they have trouble seeing that God, as seen in the person of Jesus, could be wrathful. They see a disconnect between the Old Testament and the New. I...  Read More

‌If you want to study into this theological subject, there are two different terms that are used to describe what is called the Lord’s Supper, The Last Supper, the Lord’s table, etc. Here’s the first. ‌Eucharist‌The Eucharist is typically what those in the high church calls this meal. The word Eucharist is a derivative of a greek word found in our text today. The text says in verse 19 that after J...  Read More

“Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest.” Psalm 50:3Does God still speak today? Or is this some sort of New Age idea that has infiltrated the church? Many bible teachers in the west teach that God does not speak directly to people any longer, but only speaks to us now through the written word of God. God most certainly speaks to us thro...  Read More

“While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” Luke 24:36-39Jesus promis...  Read More

“…’I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God…”Revelation 3:1-2Could you imagine reading your obituary in the newspaper? You open up the paper, flip to the back where the obituary’s are and all of a sudden, you see your name! There it is in bla...  Read More

We live in a world where the existence of hell is questioned quite often, which is a bit confusing considering we are able to witness so much suffering in this life. In the church, preachers have steered away from the old hellfire and brimstone messages that were popular not too long ago. Instead we live in a time where more people believe that heaven is real than they believe in a literal hell.Is...  Read More

“For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your pro...  Read More

“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O Lord, in your ri...  Read More

“Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”Psalm 5:1-3There’s a lot of debate in my house as to verses that encourage us to seek God in the morning. For some of us, having to get up any earlier than normal is th...  Read More

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head...  Read More

“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2“If we think love is not worth sorrow or pain, then we are more pagan than Christian.” I read this quote in an article recently on the four types of love as described by CS Lewis and most certai...  Read More

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”James 1:2-4When you see an elderly couple together who have been married for 50 plus years, you might be tempted to think, how did those two people manage to s...  Read More

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”Ephesians 6:4If you want to change the world, start at home. The God of the Bible believes this to be true. In the Old Testament, God gives the instruction to parents to talk to their children about his commands wherever they go (Deut. 6). In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul says to...  Read More

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” Proverbs 27:6When we talk about healing and God healing the brokenhearted, as he does in Isaiah 61:1, one of the big things we need to talk about is the wounds we’ve received from a friend. In our current culture, which worships comfort above all else, when a friend wounds us, most of us will simply write that friend off. “...  Read More

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”Acts 6:4At our church we believe that every person is a minister, but that doesn’t mean every ministry is the same. In the New Testament church, you see several different types of ministries, but everyone is involved as ministers.In the early church, the explosive growth had led to some big problems. One of the biggest proble...  Read More